Custom made exhausts?

[Hark]

Has anyone had a custom made system made in the UK?

I saw the post this weekfrom the chap from the US. He posted his straight through system with slash cut tips.

I obviously don't want to add a system that adds any restrictions, but I also feel that close on £1000 for two small back boxes is well in to the realms of extortion. I cynically believe that the only reason they are priced this high, is due to the large pockets of people that buy M cars.

Thoughts?

 

[PawnSacrifice]

I suspect there is a price premium determine by manufacturer of the owner's car.

However, I don't necessarily think that smaller back boxes means less research and development costs - perhaps maybe more to try to stop things from going completely mental. I suspect that they may even be slightly more difficult to manufacture, in some instances. Also, the lower volume of speciliased systems means that they will need to sell at a higher price to recover upfront costs and overheads.

Just my POY. But, interesting question and be good to hear the views of those that know more about what's inside these things.

 

[sammyz]

Been discussed before, the arguement runs that the manufactured systems have been 'developed' so are proven to produce more BHP. Off the shelf systems are just some off the shelf back boxes, the smaller they are the less sound deadening so the louder they will be. The Z4M OEM back boxes are huge things and seem very restrictive compared to an aftermarket straight through box. My system is certainly lighter than stock, louder than stock and the car's never thrown a sensor or fault code and seems to still go like the wind.

 

[mightbefamous]

Don't let these aftermarket guys take your money. Go to a good muffler shop, tell them what you want, and I bet ya a hundred dollars (or pounds? ) that you'll end up with something far nicer for a lot less money. I find it absolutely astonishing that the aftermarket companies can charge the prices that they do. We are talking about a couple of mufflers...Come on now, really? :thumbsdown: I understand there is R&D that goes into these exhausts but again, we are talking about a couple of mufflers. Mine cured the infamous torque drop at 7500rpm found on all stock Z4M's. I can't get over it!!! Not only does it sound good, it looks the tits, AND I saved money by going the custom route.

 

[Aliv6]

If you lose power it'll be in the region of a couple of BHP! Nothing ground breaking! But tbh, i've not heard an aftermarket system that i really like! Shame!

 

[sixspeed]

Hayward & Scott built my custom system. Cost around £700 for the two backboxes and X-pipe (so cat-back).

The video doesn't really capture the true sound, but I've not had one person pass a bad comment...

[youtube]GE2d-K842ko[/youtube]

 

[cj10jeeper]

I'm sure a good custom system centre can make something that meets your needs for way less than off the shelf and then paying for fitting.

I've used these guys for all the stainless pipework on my customer system and they were really good. Manufactured exactly what I needed and used my ///M backboxes

http://www.mijperformance.com/exhaust-bmw.html

 

[tjlazer]

Wow cj that is considerably cheaper. It shows the huge premium people pay for a recognised brand, like you say if they have the expertise then this could be a better solution, particularly if resale isn't a consideration.

 

[lacroupade]

I've also heard good reports about Powerflow - they have several branches nationwide.

 

[etedlm]

If you lose power it'll be in the region of a couple of BHP! Nothing ground breaking! But tbh, i've not heard an aftermarket system that i really like! Shame!

aliv6,
one of the posts you posted on the hartage muffler thread you said quote,the remus muffler is not loud,moderatley louder than stock and sounds nice imo!

 

[cj10jeeper]

Wow cj that is considerably cheaper. It shows the huge premium people pay for a recognised brand, like you say if they have the expertise then this could be a better solution, particularly if resale isn't a consideration.

Sure is and with them you basically decide what you want to achieve from noise to number and shape of tips. Worth a call to discuss and given they run 1000hp racers then I guess they have some idea what they are doing

Mine was £300 for this pipework and brackets and my own ///M boxes. Work or art actually and took them 7 hours. (I later finished the CF diffuser to bed it to the profile and blacked the boxes)

 

[Makem]

Sixpeed i can across your clip on you tube before acutally and do like the sound of it, those little crackles n pops.
Also how many races must you get in with that number plate

 

[milu]

Is there a mid box that can be removed,I've never had a good look?

On a couple of cars in the past I've left the back boxes as standard,but had a custom straight through centre pipe.
This has given me a nice sound but without any nasty drone etc

On the other hand I bought a budget stainless back box for my E46 M3 which was really nicely made, looked great,sounded awesome up in the revs but droned like mad at low revs.took it off!

I've done the custom thing many times but I guess there is always a chance you could end up with something like my M3.

 

[Darren M]

With custom exhausts I would be concerned about how optimised they are. I think exhausts for high revving engines in particular need thorough development and testing to get the best out of the combined package. Custom exhausts probably have the least amount of R&D vs BMW and other aftermarket exhaust manufacturers, in fact they probably do no R&D - just design an exhaust and make and fit it hoping they get it right first time.

I remember some years ago contacting one of the custom exhaust co's about an exhaust for my old BMW . Was told the exhaust had not actually been tested on any car (dyno or otherwise), just fitted to a few cars previously so they already had the jigs etc to make more. I left it at that. Few years later it turned out a few cars with the exhaust had been dynoed at around 145-165bhp.....should have been up close to 230bhp!!! Owners removed the exhaust and went back to the BMW one (more expensive yes) and yep back up to full power again. Why did this happen? Part of the reason was because the exhaust company wanted to keep the price down, and did not include the X section(s) in the exhaust that the standard BMW one had. Thinking back to the conversation I had with the company, when I asked about the 'x' section they did indeed say they could fit it at additional cost but they hadn't mentioned that until I asked. Companies need to make a profit and be competitive but to leave a cruicial part out of an exhaust system to try to achieve this, leaving the car well down on power (and they probably knew this being exhaust experts) I think was pretty appauling.

Might have been a one off situation but I'd be a little carful of custom exhausts especially if the price is v.good compared to the BMW replacement cost, possibly get the car dyno tested to prove it

There's talk on here about a custom exhaust that's very expensive -I bet it'll work very well providing they know what they're doing. You want something that's as well built as the BMW exhaust, has been properly tested, will last a long time, gives you maybe a bit more power than the BMW one? it won't be cheap

 

[Aliv6]

If you lose power it'll be in the region of a couple of BHP! Nothing ground breaking! But tbh, i've not heard an aftermarket system that i really like! Shame!

aliv6,
one of the posts you posted on the hartage muffler thread you said quote,the remus muffler is not loud,moderatley louder than stock and sounds nice imo!

Ok, caught!

But it's not 'nice enough' to make you change. I.e The Remus you refer to does sound ok, it's quite meaty in comparison to the Rpi, Supersprint/Eissenman jobs. More to my liking. Does it sound nicer than stock, no. Would i fork our £850+/- for it, certainly not.

That, moreover is the point i'm making!

 

[etedlm]

If you lose power it'll be in the region of a couple of BHP! Nothing ground breaking! But tbh, i've not heard an aftermarket system that i really like! Shame!

aliv6,
one of the posts you posted on the hartage muffler thread you said quote,the remus muffler is not loud,moderatley louder than stock and sounds nice imo!

Ok, caught!

But it's not 'nice enough' to make you change. I.e The Remus you refer to does sound ok, it's quite meaty in comparison to the Rpi, Supersprint/Eissenman jobs. More to my liking. Does it sound nicer than stock, no. Would i fork our £850+/- for it, certainly not.

That, moreover is the point i'm making!

aliv6,
i have a vested intrest in this one as i have the remus backboxes on my ///m and if people are looking to change for something that sounds just right then remus imo is worth serious consideration.

 

[tjlazer]

Any recommendations on where to get the best price on the Remus? I keep thinking I'd like to fit this if only for aesthetic reasons, but improved sound would definitely be welcome...

 

[Aliv6]

i would agree with that. Of all the a/m exhausts i've heard the Remus does sound the nicest! Mainly because it's closest to stock.

On the M, i'm more interested in Induction noise than exhaust. But that is also a costly avenue. Gone is my interest in tuning! I'll save that for the Clio.

 

[etedlm]

Any recommendations on where to get the best price on the Remus? I keep thinking I'd like to fit this if only for aesthetic reasons, but improved sound would definitely be welcome...

revolution in the north east was giving a decent price when i bought mine but that was just for the backboxes,in the end i got them from fst motorsport in scunthorpe as they gave me a great price,its just over the humber bridge and they fitted them for me in the price
i bought mine over a year ago so the prices have gone up now.remus has on it's site a list of dealers which you might be able to haggle a decent price with but they all seem to have to order them in dirctly from remus and if they don't have any stock in they in turn have to order them in from germany.